Roseburg City Council says 'no' to social gambling

6/23/09

By Chelsea Duncan
The News-Review

The Roseburg City Council voted Monday night against allowing “social gambling” in the city despite reports that other cities that allow it have seen few problems.

Councilor Mike Baker said he doesn't believe the city should be in the business of promoting the activity, which involves low-stakes games, such as poker, in private businesses or clubs.

“I just don't think it's something that is desirable in Roseburg,” Baker said...

[Click here to read the full article.]

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What are your thoughts on "social gambling" (city/local ordinances that allow for low-stakes gambling in private business or clubs)? Feel free to share your experiences and/or research in the comments section!

A Legal Alternative To Online Gambling

Forbes.com, 6/12/08
Source: http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/06/12/online-gambling-centsports-ent-manage-cx_jb_0612onlinegambling.html

by Jonathan Berke

Here's a business model for you: Give people money and let them place any bet they'd like. If they win, they get to keep the spoils; if they lose, give them more money to play with.
No, we're not talking about the subprime mortgage business. We're talking about a new--and perfectly legal--online gambling outfit called Centsports.com, founded by budding Webpreneur Victor Palmer in College Station, Texas.

Online gambling has always been illegal, even though people got away with it for years. In 2006, U.S. federal prosecutors started cracking down on payment processors, making things a little harder, even for off-shore virtual casino operators and their customers.

Palmer skirts this pesky problem by banking his customers. Three elements have to be present to violate most state gambling laws--namely "prize, chance and consideration," says attorney Chuck Humphrey, a gaming-law specialist and author of the Gambling Law U.S. blog. Because Centsports.com doesn't allow users to bet their own stash, no "consideration" is involved, and thus all is kosher. Quips Palmer: "Congress assumes if you’re dumb enough to give away money, then go for it."

Here's how the site works. Each user starts off with 10 cents in his or her account, provided by Centsports. (You need only register a name and password.) From there, they can bet on any event for which Las Vegas bookmakers set a line.

Once users accumulate $20 in winnings--the equivalent of doubling your money eight times, or striking gold on a 200-to-1 long shot--they can cash out a minimum of $10 and receive an actual check in the mail. (In terms of "consideration," winnings on that initial 10-cent stake don't constitute ownership until actually cashed out.) Losers risk nothing--except perhaps a touch of pride--and get immediately restaked with fresh dimes.

Cashing out is not exactly straight forward. To ensure he can always pay the electric bill, Palmer puts the breaks on payouts (talk about having a house edge). Users compete with each other to snag their winnings from a community pot; big winners get preference.

Users can also earn money by referring friends to Centsports.com. The incentive: 5% of any winnings their friends rack up.

How does Palmer aim to turn a profit? Hungry advertisers--which thus far include Skype, Pizza Hut and the National Basketball Association--and a meager marketing budget consisting of those 10-cent initial stakes and a few teaser videos on YouTube. (Most of Palmer's initial investment went to cover a mere $5-a-month lease on a computer server.) So far, so good: Palmer says his registered user base, now at 200,000 strong, is nearly doubling every month.

Palmer's not your average 26-year-old. He began college at Lubbock Christian University (in Lubbock, Texas) at age 11. He graduated at 16 with a BS in mathematics; soon after began working on a Masters degree in physics at Texas Tech University; and in 2006 bagged a Ph.D. in computer science from Texas A&M University.

That résumé notwithstanding, Palmer is more frat boy than power geek. On the phone, he jokes freely about girls and alcohol. With any luck, he may soon have plenty of reasons to raise a glass.

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Comments?

Survey: Free online gambling puts teens at risk

Source: Oregon's Statesman Journal, May 27, 2008

Survey: Free online gambling puts teens at risk

Perceived as safe, it can groom youths for wager activities

By Eunice Kim, Statesman Journal

Sex. Drugs. Alcohol. They're all topics that parents, teachers and community leaders tend to talk to children about in hopes of preventing risky behavior.

But there is another issue officials think should be discussed: online gambling.

Gambling for free on the Internet has become the most popular gambling activity among youths in Oregon, according to a new survey.

That concerns officials who say it introduces teenagers to gambling and grooms them for other forms in which money is waged.

"You're learning that gambling is fun, it's stimulating, and it's risk-free," said Wendy Hausotter, problem gambling prevention coordinator with Oregon Department of Human Services. "That's not true at all."

There's an estimated 1,700 gambling sites on the Internet that offer everything from casino-type gambling to poker to bingo. Many offer the option of gambling for free or for money.

The survey, commissioned by DHS last year, found that 33 percent of youths ages 12 to 17 — an estimated 94,659 teens — gamble online for free.

It's an activity that is convenient and easily accessible, officials say, because it can be done at home at any time, often under no supervision from parents. Its novelty, high level of stimulation and low level of physical exertion also appeal to youths, many of whom are tech-savvy.

"It's the game of choice among youth, which is surprising for us," Hausotter said. "It wasn't on the radar screen."

The last survey done on youth gambling in Oregon was in 1998. It didn't ask teens and their parents about free online gambling.

At the time, waging money on card games such as poker was the most common type of gambling among Oregon youths. It's now a close second.

Gambling on the Internet for money, which is illegal, has remained fairly unpopular, with less than 1 percent of teens participating last year, officials said. Overall, gambling among youths has gone down in the past 10 years.

"We're not saying don't gamble," said Yvonne Kays, a prevention health educator with Marion County Health Department. "Our message is, you need to recognize the risk factors and when it becomes a problem … It's a problem when you're spending too much time or money (doing it)."

Gambling, officials said, is when you bet something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome. That something often is money but also can be time, emotion or attention.

The fact that free online gambling doesn't involve money can be a draw for youths, who think they're not doing anything harmful, officials said.

Also, the odds of winning tend to be higher when there's no money waged, Kays said. That can lead kids to think they're lucky or skillful, or that they can win money at other games.

"It disconnects them from the reality of the situation," Hausotter said. "We're afraid that they're going to want to do this more and more. If they do this with money, they're at risk for many things."

That includes loss of money and identity theft, officials said. Online gambling, which is growing in popularity, also is unregulated, so there's no guarantee of a payout.

And even if money is not bet, officials have concerns, given that gambling in general has been correlated with other "risk" behaviors such as drinking.

This year's Oregon Healthy Teens survey found that the percentage of 11th-graders who binge drank, carried a handgun or attacked someone in the past 30 days was higher among those who gambled than those didn't.

Hausotter said state officials plan to meet with gambling prevention specialists next month to figure out how to curb free online gambling and get information out to parents and youth.

In Marion County, the issue already is being addressed in problem gambling prevention presentations given at schools, Kays said. The presentations include a national award-winning youth video that debunks gambling myths.

Deidre Eriksen, a health teacher at Jefferson Middle School, discusses gambling in her health classes along with other risks such as drugs and alcohol abuse. With the Internet, she said, students now can gamble without leaving their homes.

"It's so much more accessible now than it was before," said Eriksen, who received the Outstanding Teacher Participation award last year from the Oregon Problem Gambling Committee. "Now they just have to flip the computer on. It's being inundated in our lives, and we need to learn how to control it."

Statewide, a plan to tackle online gambling likely will be developed this summer in time to hit schools in the fall, Hausotter said. Strategies could include written material and classroom activities.

Internet safety is expected to be a focus, with officials urging parents to pay attention to yet another activity that children could be doing online.

"Just about every kid has a casino in their bedroom if they want," Hausotter said.

ekim@statesmanjournal.com or (503) 399-6721


Survey results
Results of the survey "Oregon Youth and Their Parents: Gambling and Problem Gambling Prevalence and Attitudes" found that:

• Six in 10 Oregon adolescents surveyed (63 percent) have gambled at some time in their lives
• 46 percent have gambled in the past year
• 3 percent gamble once per week or more often
  

Comparison
Comparing 1998 and 2007 survey results:

• Gambled in the past year: 66 percent in 1998, 46 percent in 2007 (an estimated 131,949 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
• Gambled on the Internet for free: 33 percent in 2007 (an estimated 94,659 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
• Gambled on the Internet for money: 0.3 percent in 1998, 0.6 percent in 2007 (an estimated 17,210 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
• Gambled via cards: 31 percent in 1998, 32 percent in 2007 (an estimated 91,503 12-year-olds to 17-year-olds)
  

Getting help

• Hotline: 1-877-my-limit
• Web site: http://1877mylimit.org/: live chat, instant messaging and e-mail available
  

Risk factors
Risk factors for youth problem- gambling include:

• Living in a single-parent household
• Being male
• Living in households with incomes less than the median
• Playing school sports
• Having lost more than $50 in a month
• Starting gambling before entering eighth grade

Article: "Gambling: no longer an adult hobby"

Sunday, December 9, 2007 4:31 AM PST
Gambling: no longer an adult hobby

By JESSICA KELLER (Ontario) Argus Observer [Read the full article here.]

ONTARIO - What are your children doing in their spare time?While typically considered an adult activity in the past, gambling is spreading to the younger age set, and the dangers of gambling are no longer just an adult concern.

Andrea Lockner, Lifeways prevention coordinator for Malheur County, said research and societal factors indicate more youth and teenagers are either gambling or becoming more susceptible to developing gambling problems earlier, making youth gambling awareness more important.

Children and teenagers are introduced to gambling every day, Lockner said, through teasers on the Internet to watching television. Poker has become the equivalent of a sport through broadcasts of poker tournaments on television channels, such as ESPN, and children see that and their perceptions of gambling can change. Lockner said she has even heard children say they want to become professional poker players when they grow up.

“For me, I think that was a whoa. That was surprising,” Lockner said...

[Read the remainder of article here.]

'Poker for kids? Think twice before anteing up'

November 20, 2006
by Jeff Marotta

Published in the Salem Statesman-Journal on December 2, 2006 [original article here].

So what's the fuss? I received this e-mail from a concerned mother of two:

"I want to know how much I should be worrying about gambling and the health of my kids. They watch poker tournaments on TV, their friends wear clothing with references to poker, and I heard my son talk about playing poker with friends.... What is a mother to do?"

She is not alone in wondering about the effects of ongoing exposure to gambling. Today's is the first generation to grow up in a society where gambling is widely accepted, advertising is ubiquitous and gambling activities are commonplace.

Research indicates that 60-90 percent of youth engage in gambling, and that youth problem gambling rates are 2-4 times higher than those of adults. Surveys of Oregon teens tell us drugs, alcohol and gambling often travel together, yet many parents see gambling as a relatively safe pastime and encourage it as an alternative activity.

I told the concerned mom that, although we don't know the ultimate effects of today's gambling popularity, we do know both children and adults can and do get caught up in gambling in a way that is harmful to themselves and others around them.

This is not to say that if your child is gambling you need to panic -- most kids engage in some form of gambling and most don't develop gambling problems. But you do need to recognize that gambling carries risk and approach it accordingly, as you would tobacco use, drug use or fastening your car's seatbelt.

What do you look for if you're concerned your child might have a problem? Watch for signs such as lying about gambling, gambling superseding other activities, using money to gamble that's supposed to be used for other things, borrowing money to gamble, or stealing and letting schoolwork suffer.

Another suggestion I gave the concerned mom was to talk to her kids about gambling using these simple guidelines:

• Notice opportunities to discuss gambling. Help children make sense out of what they see on television, in the news and in the community.
• Discuss rules and expectations for behavior, and follow through with consequences.
  Be specific. When you talk about gambling, mention examples such as buying a lottery ticket, betting on a sports event, playing bingo.
• Be clear about your own values but avoid sweeping statements (all gambling is bad) or threats ("if I ever catch you betting money..."). Kids feel immortal, so scaring them doesn't work; threats invite rebellion.
• Emphasize balance and choice. Facing choices about gambling and other risky behaviors can be a good way to practice making good decisions about many life issues.

As a parent, you play the most important role in preventing problem gambling behaviors in your children. You may want to think twice before buying your daughter a "Pink Poker Night" set or, for that matter, any one of the hundreds of gambling products that will adorn your newspaper's ad inserts.

A better gift is talking to your kids about the risks of gambling and helping them understand the best bets made in life aren't made in card games.

Jeff Marotta is problem gambling services manager in the Oregon Department of Human Services Addictions and Mental Health Division. For additional information on youth gambling, visit the

DHS Problem Gambling Services Web site or call the Oregon Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-877-2-STOP-NOW.

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Comments? Additional comments on Dr. Marotta's article can be found at the Statesman-Journal website.

Children's poker workshop article

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_poker20060510.html

Children's poker workshop panned by solicitor general
Last updated May 10 2006 07:02 PM PDTCBC News

B.C. Solicitor General John Les says he's appalled that a Vancouver company is planning to teach children how to play Texas Hold'em at a poker workshop next month.

Nevada North Entertainment is putting on the Kids Poker Tour for youngsters ranging in age from 10 to 18 at the end of June.

The event's brochure says the workshop will teach better communication and social interaction, good sportsmanship, and math and number skills, among other benefits.

INDEPTH: Gambling But the solicitor general said those benefits can be achieved in other ways. "There are lots of good ways to learn all of those good things and it doesn't have to be a poker game.

"Targeting kids as young as 10 years old, I think is reprehensible, and our government is certainly opposed to minors being targeted this way."

Les plans to watch event 'like a hawk'
For an undisclosed fee, the young people will also be offered a half-day tournament with prizes such as education subsidies and free entry to future events.

Les said the tournament and prizes could make the workshop illegal. He added his staff will be watching the event "like a hawk" – and will be ready to shut it down.

"The minute they step out of line, I want enforcement action taken."

A spokesperson for Nevada North Entertainment declined an interview request by CBC News.
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